Drain pipe cleaner



Nov. 21, 1933. N. EINHORN DRAIN PIPE CLEANER Filed May 20, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR l a zarz 1712260272 HIS ATTORNEYS NOV. 21, 1933. N ElNHORN 1,936,503

DRAIN PIPE CLEANER Filed May 20, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HIS ATTORNEYS Patented um. 21, 1933 DRAIN PIPE CLEANER Nathan Einhorn, Chicago, ill.

Application May 2-0, 1932. Serial No. 612,589

6 Claims.

- vent-ion relates to certain novel imrnents drain pipe cleaners, and has for J the provision of an improved .n or this character which will be highand economical in manufacture. 1 object of this invention to provide an for cleaning or removing ob- 1 drain passages or pipes.

- dex ice structions from -cleaning device for removing tructions from tortuous drains, such as toilet drains, and to construct said device so that it may be readily fed past sharp angles and turns tortuous drains.

' will appear hereinafter.

' 11 consists in the novel combinangernent of parts to be hereinafter ion will be best understood by refhe accompanying drawings, showing ierred form of construction in which: showing in section a typical in elevation a preferred form elevation;

is a top plan View of the form of the on shown in 1;

3 is a fragmentary section on line 3-3 erence to the g. 4 is an end elevation on line 4-4 in Fig. 2; g. 5 i," an eievation on line 5-5 in Fig. 3,

Y section" is perspective detail view;

top plan view or" a modification longitudinal section on line 8-8 9 is a sectional view on line 9-9 in Fig. 8, elevation;

is a Vl8'\' similar to 9 but showing in a di '-erent position; and

ig. 11 is a sectional view on line 8-8 in Fig. 7, partly in el a Referring particularly now to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, wherein a preferred form of the invention is shown, a toilet is indicated at loyhaving a tortuous drain passage 11 in which is shown an obstruction 12. In the form of my improved device shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusivel provide a pair of jaws 13 and 14 to grab the obstruction 12, the jaw 14 being movable relative to the jaw 13. These jaws are associated with a wheelbearing truck generally indicated at 15. I'he relatively stationary lower jaw 13 includes upstanding portions 18 in which the truck wheels 17 are journaled. The jaw 14 is pivotally mounted on of the invention is to provide a shaft 18 which is mounted in portions 16 of the jaw 13.

Arranged on the shaft l'Sare compression coil springs 19 that have end portions 2% bearing upon and tending to close the jaw 14 down upon the jaw 13;

To move the jaw 14 relative to jaw 13, so as to enable the jaws to bite into or grab an obstruction, such as 12, I attach one end of a flexible element 21 to an car 22 struck up from the jaw 14; this flexible element 21 being led through a conduit 23 that has one end attached to a portion 24 of jaw 13 by a clamp 25. At the other end of the conduit 29 the flexible element 21 carries a finger grip 26.

The upper and lower jaws 14 and 13 have convexly shaped or rounded forward end portions 28 which facilitate feeding thejaws 13 and 14 through the tortuous passage 11 to facilitate advancing the head end of the flexible tube or conduit 23 and the jaws 14 and 13 through the tortuous drain passage 11 on the wheels 17.

To open the jaws the flexible element 21 is pulled by the finger grip 28, causing the jaw 14 to move into open (dotted line, Fig. 3) position 80 against the action of the compression springs 19, to permit the jaws 13 and 14 to grab the obstruction 12, into biting engagement with which the jaw 14 is forced by springs 24, whereby by pulling on the conduit 23 theobstruction 12 may be removed from the passage 11.

To facilitate feeding the flexible conduit 23 through the tortuous passage 11 and past the sharp angles, such as 27 therein, provide about the conduit 23 a sectional track generally indicated at 28 and which includes a series of sections 29 which have flanges 30 that are pivotally interconnected S1. of these shoes 29 has a dish-shaped or concave end portion 32 which projects under the next adjacent action 29, and 5 these portions 32 hold the track sections 29 relative to each other in the curved formation shown in Fig. 1.

In feeding the device through the tortuous passage 11 the truck 15 is fed up the traclc 28, 100 which projectsgthe wheels '17 of the truck 15 against the upper wall 33 of 11 so that when the truck 15 comes to the upper end of inclined passage portion 34 the wheeled truck 15 will make-the sharp turn 35 in the passage and 105 continue on down through the passage 11. The concave end portions 32 or" the track sections 29 prevent the sections 29 of the track 28 from straightening out into a rigid straight line forma tion so that the wheeled truck 15 at the head end 110 he upstanding thereof will not be projected as a rigid unit ofi the lower wall 36 of the inclined passage portion 34 against the opposite wall to lodge dead against the latter at point 3'7, in which latter case the wheeled truck 15 at the head end of the device would be prevented from making the down turn in the passage 11. In this manner I overcome a difliculty experienced in the use of prior art devices.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7 to 11 inclusive I provide an elongated series of pivotally interconnected articulated truck bodies 40, each of which has at one end a pair of lugs. 41 in each of which is journaled a shaft 42 that carries a pair of wheels or rollers 43. The other end of each of the truck bodies 40 is pivotally mounted, as at 44, on one of the shafts e2 (Fig. 8). The trucks 46 are thus mounted on opposite sides of a flexible, resilient supporting metal band eiS upon which they are thus assembled to flex and move as a unit.

Each of the truck bodies 40 has a guiding loop formed thereon and extended through these loops 45 is a flexible element 4'? having a finger grip 4.8at one end.

The forward end of the foremost truck-body 40 has a portion 49 looped about a shaft 50 which is mounted in a pair of lugs 51 formed on a relatively stationary grab jaw 52. On the shaft 50 is a guiding sleeve 53 over which the flexible element 4'? is led; said flexible element being attached as at 54., to a grab jaw 55 which is movable relative to jaw 52. The jaw 55 is pivotally connected to the jaw 52 by means of a shaft 59 which is journaled in lugs 58 on jaw 55 and in the lugs 51. Carried on trunnions 56 attached to lugs 51 are wheels 5'7.

Normally urging the jaws 55 and 52 together is a tension coil spring 60 which is arranged between the jaws and has its ends secured thereto.

Hinged to each side of jaw 55 by a conventional hinge structure 61 is a wing 62. Each of these wings 62 has a lateral flange 63 and each of these flanges 63 is provided with an aperture 64 (Fig. 15) to receive a lug 65 formed on the jaw 52. Carried by a trunnion 67 attached to each wing 62 is a wheel 68. The engagement of the'lugs 65 in the apertures 64 retains the wings 62 in folded or collapsed position against the action of compression springs 66 that are arranged on the pintles of the hinges 61. When the flexible ele ment 47 is pulled to move the jaw 55 away from the jaw 52 to grab or bite into an obstruction the wing flanges 63 are raised off lugs 65 and the springs 66 urge the wings 62 and wheels 68 carried thereby into the expanded inoperative position shown in dotted line in Figs. '7 and 10, so that the lower jaw 52 may be pushed under the obstruction to bite into the same which it cannot readily do when riding on the wheels 68. In this manner the wheels 68 are prevented from interfering with the biting action of the jaws 52 and 55.

The wings 62 may be manually moved back under jaw 55 and the lugs 65 entered in apertures 64 in which position these parts and the jaws 52 and 55 are retained by spring 60.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification, without departing from the and carried by spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the class described, comprising a flexible structure, a wheel-bearing truck at one end of said structure, a pair of grab jaws carried by said truck one movable relative to and springurged toward the other, and a flexible element coextensive with and carried by said structure and attached at one end to said movable jaw for operating the same.

2. A device of the class described, comprising a flexible conduit, a wheel-bearing truck attached to one end of said conduit, a pair of grab jaws carried by said truck one movable relative to and spring-urged toward the other, and a flexible element extended through said conduit having one end attached to said movable jaw for operating the same.

3. A device of the class described, flexible structure, a wheel-bearing truck and a pair of grab jaws at one end of said flexible structure, and flexible means coextensive with said flexible structure for manipulating said jaws into open position.

4. A device of the class described, comprising an elongated flexible, resilient supporting membar, a seri s of pivotally interconnected wheelbearing trucks arranged on opposite sides of said member, a relatively stationary grab jaw attached to the one of said trucks at the head end of said series, a relatively movable grab jaw pivotally connected to and spring-urged toward said stationary jaw, and a flexible element extended along said series of trucks having an end attached to said movable jaw for operating the same.

5. A device of the class described, comprising an elongated flexible, resilient supporting member, a series of pivotally interconnected wheelbearing trucks arranged on opposite sides of said member, a relatively stationary grab jaw attached to the one of said trucks at the head end of said series, a relatively movable grab jaw pivotally connected to and spring-urged toward said stationary jaw, a flexible element extended along said series of trucks having an end attached to said movable jaw for operating the same, and spring-urged wheel-bearing wing members pivotally mounted on said stationary jaw.

6. A device of the class described comprising an elongated flexible supporting structure, a relatively stationary grab jaw attached to one end of said structure, a relatively movable jaw pivotally connected to and spring-urged toward said stationary jaw, wheel-bearing wing members pivotally mounted on said movable jaw each having a portion provided with an aperture, lugs on said stationary jaw receivable in said apertures, a flexible element extended along and carried by said supporting structure having an end attached to said movable jaw for operating the same, and spring members associated with said pivotal mounting of said wing members urging the same laterally away from said movable jaw.

comprising a NATHAN EINHORN. 

